Tube Amp kits

noth

noth

New member
I'm starting to get real interested in building an all tube amp kit. I'm a home player only, so 18 Watts would be the max, probably a combo. I've read here that even 5 Watts would do. I want to experience pushing those tubes into natural overdrive, as opposed to always using effects. I've been looking at all the tweed and plexi kits, as they're called. There's quite a few out there. Is there any concensus on who offers the best ones? The tweed ones in particular all appear to be pretty much the same, so I'm having trouble trying to figure out which ones rise to the top. My technical level is high, so no problem building the thing. But my music varies and I like both very clean and full crunch sounds. All I've got right now is a Fender GDEC, which has served me very well. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Noth
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

www.tedweber.com, I don't have personal experience but his prices are excellent, I've thought about building one of his 50W Marshall heads. Yes, he has many of his parts made in China, but he used vintage trannies from Marshalls and Fenders as the blueprint.
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

The best prices are Ted's. The best parts and support are Bruce at Mission Amps. He really won't let you fail. His Tweed Deluxe kits use nothing but premium parts. He gives you a lot of photos of the build. Don't expect step by step instructions. You basically take a layout sheet and try to duplicate it. By following Bruce's photos, you get to see the little tricks of the trade that make for a very quiet amp.

I cannot recommend him enough. (assuming you're going tweed)

A Deluxe is perfect in that it gets pretty good overall volume, but it gets nice and dirty at volumes that won't kill off your hearing.
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

Scott, it's pretty amazing that you'd put recommendations here, without a word about your own excellent products. But I knew you would...now in my books, that's class!! Kudos!!

Noth
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

Get the Mission 5E3 kit...hands down the BEST sounding tweed Deluxe clone out there, amazing support and priced VERY reasonable IMO. If you really want the amp to sounds it's best put a Celestion Blue in it when you;re done building it.

A Tweed Deluxe (5E3) when done correctly is about 12-15 watts and has got one of the most amazing natrual overdrive characters ever in an amp.

good luck!
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

CeriaTone.com gets a lot of praise also. I don't have any experience with their amps, but they have an interesting selection of classic Fender, Marshall, and Matchless kits.
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

noth said:
Scott, it's pretty amazing that you'd put recommendations here, without a word about your own excellent products. But I knew you would...now in my books, that's class!! Kudos!!

Noth
Click to expand...

Well, thanks for the props. Not necessary though as I don't sell kits, just fully functioning amps. No real reason to mention my stuff.

Building an amp is great fun. Enjoy yourself. The mission tweed 5E3 was the first amp I ever built. It's good stuff.

You don't build a kit to save money. You build it for the experience.

What ever kit you get, take your time and enjoy it. It's not a race.
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

I've heard nothing but good things about Bruce @ Mission Amps, plus he helped me on the phone with something even though I had never bought a thing from him!

My first project is a Tweed Princeton that I got as a "kit" from a lower-cost provider. Quotation marks 'coz it turned out to be an almost-complete collection of parts referring only to the ancient Fender documentation. (This was partly my fault BTW.) Turned out fine in the end, but the process was a painful learning experience.

Scott advised me to go with the Mission Deluxe or the Trinity Lightning for a first amp project, and I wish that I had listened to him. :eek13:

Whichever amp you start, the Hoffman Amps forum is a fantastic "place" to learn.

Mojo Musical Supply is far from the cheapest out there, but their cabs are great (beaten only by Mission Amps). Don't get support there though.

Trinity Amps also offers a Deluxe Kit and has excellent documentation and support AFAIK. I'm probably going to build one of their 18-Watt Marshall clones one day.

Allen Amplification has enhanced versions of classic Fender's. Great transformers, parts and support from what I've heard. Not cheap though.

Weber does seem to have the best prices on complete kits, but from everything I've read & seen that may not be the place to get your first amp kit. The cab, chassis & speaker (almost needless to say) are all good quality, but the schematics and layouts leave something to be desired. The metal substitute for a rectifier tube Weber uses is almost universally disliked. As far as I can tell, Weber would be a great deal if you knew which parts to replace (pots, switches, etc.) and also have a better layout (or know how to do the layout yourself - grounding is a BIG issue in amp building, as I've learned the hard way).

You might want to check out AX84.com. Their "P1" is a dead-simple, two tube amp. Look for "Legacy Projects" there to find it. Is it the ultimate amp? No, but you'll learn a lot building it without paying big bucks. Great support from that forum too.

Hope some of this helps. Feel free to send me a PM anytime if you want to talk about building amps, kits, etc.

Chip
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

I must say I checked out the price for the mission amp Tweed and it seems REALLY good. If only I lived in the US :( There are kits in Europe but they're WAY more expensive than that. Tube Amp Doctor sell a lot.
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

Thanks Scott :) A little too much but they seem uber cool. We have TAD for high end BFs/Tweeds or Marshall stuff. If we order outside of the EU we get buttfriended by the customs :(
Torres engineering has some decently priced kits though... Could be fun for this summer :D
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

That Mission 5E3 kit looks like a very satisfying project. I've been wanting to build 'something' but no pedals are really getting me that excited. Now an amp, that gets me excited. That's a great idea, guys.

Plus their $75 charge to look over tha amp and 'fix it' if it isn't working is a nice to have.
 
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Re: Tube Amp kits

What about Ceriatone? Does anyone have experience with these guys?
They make a bunch of really cool looking kits at various stages of completion. If you want the turret board already populated you can buy one that way I believe.
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

I buy some of my chassis' from Ceriatone, as well as some odd ball value electrolytics that I use in my EL84 amps. Nik is a great guy to work with. I think it's pretty much the same for most of these kit guys. You get a box of parts, a schematic and a layout and it's up to you to sink or swim.

My dealings with Nik at ceriatone would have me believe he offers some basic support via email. He's always been jonny on the spot answering my stuff.
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

Pierre - you might try the Ampmaker site again. Appears he was having some trouble with the Internet.

He's got a GREAT set of links on that page, including Jack Darr's Electric Guitar Amplifier Handbook ("superb out-of-print book on guitar amps") and some essential safety info.

Chip
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

Scott_F said:
Well, thanks for the props. Not necessary though as I don't sell kits, just fully functioning amps. No real reason to mention my stuff.

Building an amp is great fun. Enjoy yourself. The mission tweed 5E3 was the first amp I ever built. It's good stuff.

You don't build a kit to save money. You build it for the experience.

What ever kit you get, take your time and enjoy it. It's not a race.
Click to expand...

It's quite an experieince building an amp from scratch and even if you never do it again, you'll undersatnd for the first time how your amps works and things about electronics that had been a big mystery before.

Kinda like building a house: takes all the mystery out of it and when you want to work on your house you know pretty much what you're going to find behind the drywall when it comes plumbing, electrical, etc.

Building a simple amp and tweaking it to taste by changing out capacitors and resistors is a very, very worthwhile experience.
 
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Re: Tube Amp kits

Fresh_Start said:
Pierre - you might try the Ampmaker site again. Appears he was having some trouble with the Internet.

He's got a GREAT set of links on that page, including Jack Darr's Electric Guitar Amplifier Handbook ("superb out-of-print book on guitar amps") and some essential safety info.

Chip
Click to expand...

Woot! 145 quid for a 5W Marshall inspired amp! I may even be able to afford it :D Thanks!
 
Re: Tube Amp kits

I live in Colorado and I was having trouble with my tweed Victoria 5e3. I took it to Bruce (of Mission Amps) figuring that he would know best. In fact he fixed it in about 10 minutes and DID IT FOR FREE!

I am in love with 5e3s and plan on getting a kit from Bruce at Mission Amps in the near future.
 
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